[Intro - Both, playful] Hayride after dark straw in my jeans you in my blanket me in your schemes [Verse 1 - Female rap] Midway lights still blinking like they forgot to quit We paid for the last wagon and we made it fit two people and a blanket that had seen better years Hayride after dark is a dare in soft gears Tractor pulls slow, straw sticks to my sleeves You point at the corn like the night has leaves for every secret we have not said out loud yet I rap when I am happy. I rap when I forget to act like I am too cool for a ride this small City girl on a wagon, county boy with the gall to pull me closer when the path turns black Hayride after dark and I am not looking back at the fairground noise or the safer kind of plan Your shoulder is a map. I am learning the land [Pre-Chorus - Female sung] The wheels go soft the dark goes kind I came for the fun I stayed for the find [Verse 2 - Male country] I have done this ride with cousins and a cooler of ice Never with a girl who makes the ordinary nice enough to feel brand new under the same old stars Hayride after dark, diesel and the cars parked far behind us like a life we can pause She talks in fast circles. I answer with because I want her here when the wagon hits the ruts and she laughs like the jolt was a gift, not a cut Blanket over both knees, straw in her hair I could drive this path forever and not care about the time or the temperature or the last call Hayride after dark is the best of the fall so far. And the night is still writing the rest with her hand on my jacket and my heart in my chest [Pre-Chorus - Male sung] The wheels go soft the dark goes true I came for the ride I stayed for you [Chorus - Both] Hayride after dark straw and slow firefly sparks of a night that should be silly and somehow leaves marks Hayride after dark blanket and a borrowed heart We can play it like a joke or we can let it start Hayride after dark corn rows and a quiet talk If the fair is closing early we can still walk the long way back with the straw in our clothes Hayride after dark and the whole night knows [Verse 3 - Female rap] Do not tell me this is just a seasonal activity I can feel the shift in the way you look at me when the tractor turns and the lights get thin Hayride after dark is where the real begins under a joke and a blanket and a shared cup of cider I came for the pictures. I stayed for the quieter version of us that does not need an audience Your town, my perfume, the same soft evidence that two people can choose a wagon over a crowd I am not lost. I am allowed to like this. To want the next slow mile Hayride after dark with a permanent smile I will brush off later and still keep the straw as a receipt for a feeling I finally saw [Verse 4 - Male country] I used to think the hayride was for kids and old folks Then she sat beside me and the whole thing spoke a different language. One about staying through the chill Hayride after dark on a county fair hill that is not even a hill, just a rise in the dirt She makes ordinary places feel like they work harder for the night. I work harder for the truth I want her on the ride home. I want the proof to keep living after the tractor shuts down Hayride after dark is the best light in town when it is almost gone and we are still here straw on our clothes and nothing to fear [Chorus - Both, bigger] Hayride after dark straw and slow firefly sparks of a night that should be silly and somehow leaves marks Hayride after dark blanket and a borrowed heart We can play it like a joke or we can let it start Hayride after dark corn rows and a quiet talk If the fair is closing early we can still walk the long way back with the straw in our clothes Hayride after dark and the whole night knows [Bridge - Trade then Both] [Female] Keep the blanket keep the pace [Male] Keep the wagon keep this place [Both] in the story of the season where the dark was kind Hayride after dark left a mark we do not mind [Verse 5 - Trade] [Female] Tell me this is not a ride you forget by Monday [Male] Tell me this is not a night you give away someday [Female] Hayride after dark—say you felt it too [Male] I felt it. I still feel it. That is the truth [Final Chorus - Both, loudest] Hayride after dark straw and slow firefly sparks of a night that should be silly and somehow leaves marks Hayride after dark blanket and a borrowed heart We can play it like a joke or we can let it start Hayride after dark corn rows and a quiet talk If the fair is closing early we can still walk the long way back with the straw in our clothes Hayride after dark and the whole night knows [Outro - Both, fading] Tractor off straw still stuck hayride after dark and we are in luck
